Does Exercise Help?

            I was told all my life that exercise was important – not to mention fresh air and sunshine. I never paid much attention, as I was always on the skinny side and had sufficient muscles for my daily life. I figured my just-about-daily bike rides to and from school were sufficient, as well as my weekly LARPing in my teens. I was probably right, but who could say for sure?

            My adult life provided far less opportunities for movement, but, again, I wasn’t particularly troubled by that. At least, not in any way I was aware of. Then, a few years ago, my wife decided to start exercising regularly, and I figured it was probably a good idea to join in – I’ve always accepted that exercise keeps you healthy when you’re older, and I figured that if the routines are built at a younger age they’ll be far easier to maintain. We managed to get into a routine of walking three days a week.

            It took a while, but eventually our bodies adapted and came to expect the exercise – just in time for winter. So we pulled out my old Dance Dance Revolution games, and switched to that for the winter months. It worked well, and when spring came we went back to walking. Last year, we even increased the exercise to every day instead of just three days a week.

            Still, while I knew the exercise was healthy, I couldn’t see it having any impact on me. Yes, it was a good established routine, and was making excellent building blocks for eventual old age, but it took up a great deal of time with no visual impact. I didn’t resent it, but I did often wonder if there was much point to it.

            Then various circumstances conspired to make it so DDR was no longer an option for exercise, a month before it was warm enough to start walking again. In the month it took the weather improve, we had no exercise. I didn’t notice any difference at first, but once I did become aware I came to realize that they happened within the first few days. It became harder to get out of bed in the morning and I had noticeably less energy throughout the day. What energy I did have wasn’t used optimally, because my brain wasn’t functioning as well. I even became less enthusiastic about going to the weekly D&D game I run.

            When the weather improved and we were able to get out walking again, all of that reversed within the first couple days – and I was amazed. There were so many little things in my life that had been affected by the lack of exercise – some I’d guessed at the cause, but others I hadn’t even noticed until exercise improved them. For me, it was quite the revelation.

            So, if you ever find yourself wondering if you should exercise – or if there’s any point in exercise – chances are there are a whole bunch of things in your life exercise can improve, though you probably won’t even notice them at the time.

            Besides, it’s good to know that when the zombie apocalypse comes you’ll be able to survive longer.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Lark's Landing, Episode 24

Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.

You can find the previous episode here.


28th of Waning Summer, 0AL

Having fallen into some old building with some type of haze in the air while tracking down a young group of adventurers, our heroes fall into trouble while gathering the figurines they find. Kordak, thinking they would make great toys for some kids, tries to sweep a display into the bag of holding. The moment they hit the floor, the wood-and-stucco figurines grow to full size - crowding the room with 17 more individuals - and begin to attack.

The group is concerned at first, but as Extang takes out several of them a spell allowing him to breathe fire, they realise that the trouble is the number of enemies, not their strength. They hack and blast their way through, clearing the room. However, they aren't without wounds, so they take a short, hour long rest to recuperate a bit. However, as they do so, they also notice that there is some kind of poison causing them a small amount of harm.

Paranoid and more cautious than they've ever been, they proceed through the sun-engraved stone doors, finding a hallway that proceeds for some way before turning to the left. They're keeping their eyes open for traps and, even though they don't see any, Extang pulls out a ten foot pole to prod around in front of them in the hopes of catching anything they missed. He doesn't find anything, so he, Kordak, and Stor proceed towards the door at the far end of the hall while the others hang back, not trusting that there really isn't a trap.

As it turns out, they're correct. The combined weights of Kordak, Stor, and Extang cause a pressure plate to shift under their weight. Sections of the wall swing out, bashing into the three and pushing them further down the hall before clicking into place - blocking the path back to the others, leaving nothing but a six inch gap at the top. After a search on both sides reveals no switches for resetting the traps, they spend twenty minutes widening part of the six inch gap until its big enough for people to get through.

Once everyone is back together again, they open the door into a large room. The floor is covered in mud and there's a boulder in the centre of the room with a bamboo staff leaned against it. Beside the boulder is a giant crayfish the size of a pony, staring at them intently. They slowly enter the room, testing to see how the creature will respond. It charges forward, jabbering something in a language they don't understand. When they back away, it returns to its place beside the boulder, watching....

After a few more tests, and some failed attempts to communicate with it - during which they move too far into the room and the crayfish runs over to the bolder and taps on it, awaking what is apparently a giant crab - they decide to try to get through the room without disturbing the strange crayfish. There are doorways to the right and left, as well as a stairwell leading down across the way. They run for the door on the left, keeping close to the wall with Kordak positioning himself between the crustaceans and his friends, but the mud turns out to be slipperier than anticipated. They can't make it as far as expected, and Balasar ends up falling flat on his face.

The crayfish charges Kordak and the crab goes after Stor, who is closest to the door. Since the creatures look too big to fit through the door, the group decides to continue their flight. Extang once again grows Kordak to giant size to help him fend off the crayfish for the duration of the retreat. The plan takes a sudden turn when, just as most of the group are getting to the door, the giant crab manages to grab Akta in one of its claws. The fight is now on and, slipping and sliding in the mud, often falling when trying to swing weapons, the group take down the crustaceans. They then spend the next ten minutes eating some crab and storing the legs in the bag of holding for later while Balasar casts a spell to heal their wounds. Stor investigates the stairwell, finding the bottom of it filled with mud blocking a door. He checks all three doors for traps, finding nothing.

Now the group has a decision - where to go? They look through the two upper doors, finding that the one on the left leads into a hallway that then goes down a set of stairs, and the one on the right goes into a long hall that turns to the left. Not wanting to go further down - more pointedly, wanting to go up and get out of this place - they choose the door on the right. They go down the long hall that has wet and slimy walls, with the stucco decomposing a sloughing off, exposing the seams of one of the large stone blocks. They turn the corner to find a stairwell leading up...! That is filled with rocks, clay, and rubble.

Disappointed that this was probably once the way out, they head back to try the door in the mud-filled stairwell. It is unlocked, but the mud is completely blocking it from being pulled open. They try various methods of moving the mud out of the way, but the silty, quicksand-like mud fills back in too quickly. Frustrated, and concerned about the poison that's still affecting them, most of them decide to take the final route - all except Extang, who consults his cards and interprets his findings as a message that he needs to persevere and keep doing what he's doing. He's left alone with his flickering torch that seems to be struggling to keep burning.

The rest of the group go through the final hall and down a flight of stairs into a room with an inch and a half of water and mud on the floor. There are fallen pedestals all around the room, and one standing with a small metallic pyramid on it. The walls are covered in a slimy white buildup, and there is a wet, green mass hanging above the door on the far end of the room.

Stor is immediately able to identify the green mass as algae - far less sinister than it could have been. He then pokes at the wall with his tiger-tooth knife. It comes back coated in a white substance that, after examining it, he determines to be lime. He declares it safe and washes it off in the water - feeling a slight burning sensation as soon as he touches the lime. He realises that lime, when wet, can become quite acidic, so he warns the others.

Everyone else have been talking about Extang being left behind. They decide that they really shouldn't leave him on his own, so they return - finding that he hasn't made progress with the door yet. They join in, trying to find more methods of moving the mud, but still find nothing that works. Finally they go after the hinges - taking a few minutes to remove them and then lower the door to the ground. As it lands with a squelch, the hear a gasp and a splash from down the hallway they've just revealed.

They proceed with caution, finding a room filled with soft light at the end of the hall. The light seems to flow from everywhere and the room is quite strange - the floor in front of them is a rocky beach leading up to a pool of water that takes up most of the room to their right. The ceiling is a crystal cavern. There are a pair of bronze doors in the wall to their left, and a set of doors carved wit a sun symbol to their right, on the far side of the pool.

Stor moves closer to the pool, looking to see if he can determine what made the sounds earlier. He finds the water to be quite clear and about 12 feet deep, though he can make out a ledge only two feet down that is running along the side of the wall to the doors beyond the pool. Beyond that, he doesn't see anything and is just about to give up searching when a head pops out of the water close to the far end of the pool with a giggle. It is a young, slim woman with long golden hair wearing a silky, sea-foam coloured shawl. She radiates a soft silvery light that is even glowing through her shawl.

Everyone is immediately suspicious of her. Extang consults his cards again and tells everyone else not to worry - the cards, which haven't steered them wrong yet - say to have a positive outlook, which he takes to mean that this woman is safe.

The woman says something in what Kordak recognises as the same language the crustaceans were speaking. No one understands it, so they try other languages they know as she looks at them in confusion. Finally, Stor tries elvish, which she responds to with delight. She expresses that it has been a very long time since she's had anyone to talk to, and answers what questions she can - explaining that she doesn't know much about this place because she wasn't awake when she was brought in. She tells them that the sun on the door is in praise of the sun god, Nanahuactin, and is surprised they don't know this. None of the group has ever heard of a sun god other than Epesta.

Knowing she can't possibly be a normal being, but unable to figure out what she is, Stor works up his courage and asks her what she is. She calls herself a nereid. Stor has never heard of that before, but he figures - based on what he's observed of her - that it probably means some kind of water nymph.

Bored of the conversation he can't understand, Kordak wanders over to the double doors on the left, checking them for traps, but not finding any. He doesn't see any point in hanging around, so he's getting ready to move on.


And that's where this game session ends. Check back for Episode 25 to find out what happens next.

Building D&D Backgrounds

            I recently went through the process of helping someone completely new to Dungeons & Dragons create a character, and it got me thinking about writing up some guidelines for the part that’s not explicitly described in the books: giving the character a background and personality. There are loose guidelines and suggestions for this, but there’s only so much guiding that can be given to what is very much a personal creative process. Naturally, with no hard and fast method for doing this, certain stereotypes frequently find their ways into characters. So, here are a few guidelines (not rules) I’ve come up with – both from my own experiences and from observing others – about what types of characters to avoid making.

1.      Don’t make your character a dark and mysterious brooding hero.

This is a very popular character archetype that a lot of people want to play – I know I’ve made characters like this before, but there’s a big problem with them. D&D is an interactive, teamwork-based game. This type of character tends to remain silent and untrusting of others and, as a result, ends up lurking around, following the group of adventurers, and only engaging in the combat aspect of the game. When it comes to roleplaying, all they can do is sit in a corner and sulk, waiting for one of the other players to convince them to open up – which almost never happens, because the character is usually abrasive enough that others don’t want to interact with them. Now, if you want to just observe the game with minimal interaction, this type of character may be perfect for you – otherwise, I suggest making your character more interested in interacting with others.

2.      Don’t try to recreate your favourite hero from some other story.

It’s perfectly okay to steal various characteristics, but taking an entire character never works out. There are two main reasons for this: the first is that creating your character is limited by a set of rules, and, as a result, you will invariably end up disappointed when your character isn’t able to do everything the hero can. The second is that, however well you know this character, it is unlikely that you’ll be able to accurately represent them – leading to further disappointment. Borrow and steal, yes, but make the character your own.

3.      Make a character with energy levels you can play.

Playing a super high-energy character that is always chatting and bouncing off the wall is loads of fun – but how long can you keep it up for? You need to make a character that you can actually play the role of, otherwise they will morph into something else that you may not be happy with. Similarly, if you make a character who is incredibly witty, but no one laughs at your own jokes, well... perhaps that’s not a good character trait to have.

4.      Don’t make a character that’s too much like yourself.

Elements of yourself will always show up in your character – that’s how you relate to them. It may seem like a good idea to make a character that is basically you in a fantasy world, but this can cause all sorts of problems – the main one being that it becomes hard to not take things personally. D&D is a roleplaying game, and sometimes it can get pretty intense. If someone (either another character or an NPC) has a problem with your character, and the character is basically you, it’s pretty hard to not take that personally. Not to mention, how will you feel if your character dies? In D&D, that’s a very distinct possibility.

5.      Avoid making a reluctant hero.

Unless the specific D&D game forces your character into the role of the hero, you’ll end up just like the brooding hero. Reluctant heroes don’t want to go adventuring – and there is an assumption in D&D that adventuring is exactly what the players want to do. A reluctant hero is a lot of work – not just for you, but for the Dungeon Master, too. Make sure your character wants to be adventuring – or, at the very least, has a very compelling reason to adventure.

6.      Don’t make a character that is already a great hero.

Most D&D games start off with lower level heroes, which mean they can’t necessarily to all the great things you want them to do in their backstory. If you make a character who is famous dragon slayer, you could very well be bringing them into a story where a baby dragon could kill them. Make sure that what your character accomplishes in their backstory fits what they are capable of doing when the game starts – otherwise there will be a lot of uncomfortable questions about why you can’t perform these great deeds anymore.

            And that’s all I can think of for now. Again, these are guidelines, not rules – one of the great things about D&D is that you can play the role of whoever you like. However, following these guidelines will help you ensure that the role is one that you’ll actually enjoy playing.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Lark's Landing, Episode 23

Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.

You can find the previous episode here.


8th - 28th of Waning Summer, 0AL

As Kordak, Balasar, and Stor return home from speaking with the short, crazy herb farmers - joined by Akta coming back from her various wanderings - they see a young boy standing outside their house, throwing stones into the mouth of the mouth of the ogre skull mounted above their door. They stop him and demand to know who he is and what he's doing. He says his name is Siff and he's looking for Shend.

When they tell him Shend is missing, Siff get's frustrated and starts to leave, but they stop him and ask why he's looking for Shend. Siff says Naldor sent him because Shend wanted to talk to him - something about potions. This sparks some interest, and they ask him where the kids get the potions they bring to Naldor. Siff explains that they're brought in by some hooded figure who comes out of the woods sometimes, but he doesn't know much more than that. They send him on his way, with a gold coin from Stor and a warning from Kordak to not throw rocks at his skull collection.

The next day, Kordak and Stor get some potatoes and start brewing up some vodka - hoping to have it done for the Feast of the Sun and Sea; a religious festival celebrating Epesta taking place on the 14th of the month. Extang is spending his time helping to construct the tavern. Balasar, feeling quite irritated at the herb farmers, grabs Akta and goes to see if they can cause some mischief there - possibly stealing some potatoes from them for the vodka. He's disappointed when he sees that one of them is out working, but Akta soon reports that there aren't any potato plants here anyway - these all seem to be plants of a more magical nature - many the type she could use for making potions. Heedless of Balasar's warnings, Akta heads out to see if she can procure some.

A quick discussion with the short creature - who seems to have forgotten yesterday's confrontation and finds Balasar only vaguely familiar - reveals that they are willing to trade enough ingredients for a single potion, but they won't accept money for it - only trade. Remembering that the short creatures seemed to be interested in glass, Balasar leaves Akta with the creature and runs out to the beach with an inspired idea. He breathes his lightning breath into the sand, fusing some of it into a chunk of fulgurite. Digging up the glass-like substance (burning his hands in the process), he runs it back to Akta and the small farmer to offer it in trade.

The farmer is uncertain about it, so they call over the other one, Fonofo, as they are the one more interested in glass. Fonofo is can't use the glass for their alchemy, but, after some thought, agrees that the item is interesting and unique enough that they should take it. They accept it in exchange for enough herbs for Akta to make a basic healing potion.

They head off, with Akta having a burst of inspiration. On the list of items she's fetching for her patron is "Lightning-turned-stone", and she believes that Balasar has just made that. She asks him to make some more, but he can't breathe lightning again for another day. So, the next day they go out to the beach, and Balasar makes another piece of fulgurite with his breath - warning Akta to let it cool before digging it out of the ground. The tiefling uses her sending stone to tell the Negotiator that she has another item.

The sound draws the attention of a grey-haired half-elf with light blue eyes, who comes over to investigate. He introduces himself as  T'Zaric and asks them about what they're doing. They show him the fulgurite, which he's very interested in - he explains that he's looking for a business niche, and this glass-like substance seems like it would make a great chandelier. He gets a bit disappointed when Balasar say he can only make one a day, but they decide to experiment with other spells. Not having more lightning at their disposal, they focus on fire magics, heating up the sand to very hot temperatures, though not getting it to melt and fuse.

Stor, who has been out trying to find someone who can make glass (he finds someone, but she needs tools and a proper furnace) sees them and comes over. Extang, working on building the tavern nearby, also notices the commotion and comes to investigate. They all find the half-elf to be quite likeable, though a bit odd - he has a tendency to turn invisible when he feels uncomfortable, and he reveals that he has a few golden scales on his skin. As a sorcerer, he discovers he has a lot in common with Extang - who also has gold scales.

Over the next several days, Akta hangs around on the beach waiting for the Negotiator, Stor and Kordak take turns keeping an eye on the vodka, and Extang, Balasar, and T'Zaric work on building the tavern. At one point, Extang does a card reading for Stor, telling him that if he waits, what he seeks will come to him. Heden approaches Balasar and asks him to perform a ceremony for the coming Feast of the Sun and Sea - he accepts. There is also a point when T'Zaric invites most of the group out to the singing stone by the mine to experiment with it. He knows that it absorbs magic, but with his new friends they can try hitting it with all elements at once. They do this, only to find that magic also absorbed. Balasar tries swinging at the rock with his magical hammer - hoping to chip a piece off - but the hammer also nearly gets absorbed and the dragonborn cleric decides not to try that again.

On the 14th of Waning Summer, it's time for the Feast of the Sun and Sea. The vodka is ready, and is perhaps the best batch of vodka Stor and Kordak will ever make. They send some with Balasar, as well as some of the remaining rum, to the celebration of Epesta taking place out on the fishing rafts. In fact, most of them go as well - Stor also worships Epesta, and Kordak and Akta go along just for fun. When he hears that there will be alcohol at the festival, T'Zaric pretends to worship Epesta and goes along as well - in spite of being uncomfortable on water. Extang continues to work on the tavern.

The festival goes over well, with lots of fish to eat. Balasar delivers a service, but being a bit drunk, doesn't do a very good job - ending by stumbling off the side of the raft, with an illusory cloud above his head provided by T'Zaric. Everyone is so amused that they don't seem to mind the poor quality of the service.

The group decides to stay at home for some more time, as Stor's birthday is coming up on the 20th. Stor and Kordak start a new batch of vodka. Akta gets a visit from the Negotiator and trades the fulgurite for a charm of vitality. She also asks if the Negotiator would be able to fetch her mother from her prison, but the fox-creature claims it is beyond her power - though she says Akta may be able to do so once she's more powerful. The Town Hall's completion is announced one morning with the ringing of the ship's bell in the tower. On the eve of his birthday, Stor makes himself a pancake-style cake.

On the 20th, Extang and T'Zaric are invited over for Stor's birthday. The goblin himself wakes up with a platinum coin on his chest with the cloud-and-sun motif of Epesta on it in gold. Remembering Shend receiving a similar coin on his birthday, he spends some time with it - discovering that he can use it to make a piece of armour or a weapon of his magical until the next full moon after activating it. They're having a good time at the party, and Extang is doing another card reading for Stor, when a knock comes at the door.

Outside their house is Gorbosh, accompanied by the yelling, human mother of the half-orc Siha. It is eventually conveyed that Siha, along with a bunch of her young friends, have gone off adventuring and have been gone for days. The mother blames Gorbosh and Kordak for this because they allowed Siha to join the militia.

The group grudgingly set out, picking up the trail of six individuals heading into the jungle. Over the next several days they slowly catch up, until on the night of the seventh day they believe they are only one day behind. However, as they set out the next morning, the ground gives way beneath their feet, dropping them deep int the earth. They emerge in a dark room with the tunnel collapsing behind them. Balasar casts a light spell and Extang lights a torch - but the torch doesn't seem to be very effective, and it flickers weakly in a misty haze in the air.

The room has a bunch of niches along the edges, an alcove in the centre, and large stone doors on the far end. Balasar and Kordak immediately go to the door, pressing their ears against it - hearing nothing from the other side. Stor goes to the alcove in the middle, finding in it a diorama of tribal life. One of the figures catches his attention - a priest holding a shepherd's crook. The figurines are made of wood and stucco, but the crook is made of metal, so Stor slips it out of the hand and keeps it.

T'Zaric makes his way over to the doors and hives them a once-over, finding them to be locked - but also finding a keyhole hidden behind a stone at the top. He tries to pick the lock, but fails - he calls out that they need to find the key, so Stor comes forward, suggesting they try the shepherd's crook. They try it and it works, unlocking the door.

Before leaving, Stor and T'Zaric examine the other dioramas around the room. Finding nothing dangerous about the figurines, T'Zaric puts three of them in his pack, thinking they may have some value. Seeing this, Kordak attempts to sweep a whole display into the bag of holding. He manages to get one in, while the others clatter to the floor.

As soon as the figurines hit the floor, they grow to life size - and begin to attack!


And that's where this session comes to an end. Find out what happens to our heroes next in Episode 24.

Lights Out

            This week’s blog is brought to you courtesy of a massive ice storm, although it may be coming late for the same reason. It’s really quite remarkable how, when the power goes out, everything in life just seems to... stop. There’re no lights, no heat, only battery-powered electronics which must be conserved, and no internet (unless there’s data around). However, there’s something else that vanishes, too: pressure.

            Our lives have become so reliant on technology that as soon as it’s no longer there, all those important things we have to constantly be doing no longer matter. Yes, there’s an element of anxiety about not being able to complete required tasks, but the power is gone – it’s out our hands; there’s nothing we can do about it, so it’s easy to push aside.

            We’re then left with our biggest problem: what do we do with ourselves? To me, it’s astonishing that it’s so hard to figure out what to do with myself when the power is gone, because I’m right in that age group that transitioned from very limited technology use to constantly being plugged in. I remember a time when I had far more free time, and yet I still managed to keep myself occupied, but somehow I now have no idea what to do when technology ceases to function.

            I think a big part of it is shock, because looking around I can find things I do fairly regularly that don’t require technology. Reading. Conversing. Board games. Drawing. The activities exist, but it’s a so much smaller pool of tasks that the brain is easily tricked into thinking there’s nothing to do.

            Yet, at the same time, there’s that element of reaction. Not only is there less we what to do, there’s less we’re able to do. Our technology has given us the ability to do lots of things very fast, sometimes many things at once. As we became used to this, it became an expectation not only that we could accomplish so much, but that we should.

            Then the power goes out, and everything slows down. Our attention is drawn to all the things in life that we take for granted. We have to remind ourselves of other ways of getting things done, and of other things we have to do.

            I’d be the last person to claim we need less technology in our lives, but at the same time I think it’s important to pause and remember that we don’t have to constantly be going so fast; that, in fact, without all our technology we wouldn’t be able to. What better time to reflect upon this than when the power vanishes and all the lights go out.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Lark's Landing, Episode 22

Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.

You can find the previous episode here.


35th of Waxing Summer - 8th of Waning Summer, 0AL

Having slain a pride of lions to make it safe for a caravan from the settlement to harvest the field of blue grass, the adventurers find themselves quite worn out and in need of a rest. However, they also need to decide what to do with all the lion corpses they have. Stor and Balasar each claim a lion hide, and Kordak takes the head of the biggest one, but they need to decide what to do with the rest. There is a lot of meat here that would be very useful for the settlement, if only they could find a way to get it there.

They discuss many possibilities, many of which revolve around a spell Balasar can cast that will preserve the corpses for ten days. Eventually, they decide that there is simply no way they can get all the meat home without spending the next month or so working at it (this does, however, lead to a conversation about trying to get a magical bag of holding). Nevertheless, they spend the rest of the day and night at the cave, allowing Balasar time to take a closer look around. He doesn't discover anything more, but he is able to decipher a bit more about the paintings covering the walls - figuring out that they are representing hoards of monsters (including dragons, giants, orcs, goblins, and many others) destroying cities and killing people.

Akta spends her time drawing missing person posters with pictures of Shend, one of which she posts outside the cave.

In the morning, Balasar preserves three of the lions and they painstakingly drag them back to the white stone building, which the goblins have succeeded in getting it slightly cleaner. There, Extang cooks up one of the lions using the various seasonings he has with him. They then cut one of the other lions in half, leaving half out for the goblins and sealing the other half, along with the third lion, in the secret room. Akta hangs another one of her posters on the building.

They head off for the settlement a little after noon, getting in a good half-day's travel. On the morning of the fourth day of their journey, while in the jungle, they hear a tromping sound. Identifying that it is coming in their direction, the group position themselves behind trees, with Stor actually hiding.

From out of the jungle comes charging a large iron-plated bull. It runs right past them. Extang recognises it as a gorgon and says he thinks they can handle it, so Akta hits it with a blast of eldritch energy. The gorgon skids to a halt, turning to face whatever assaulted it. Kordak and Stor run up, with Kordak throwing a couple of axes that glance off the beast's hide and Stor lashing at it with a whip of water, which it avoids the brunt of the damage from.

Extang then casts a spell on Kordak, making him grow to a size almost as large as the Gorgon, then launches a minor spell at it that misses. Akta and Balasar also cast spells that fail to pierce the creature's tough hide, but Akta's hex manages to take hold, affecting the beast's strength.

Infuriated by all these attacks, the Gorgon takes a couple steps back, pawing at the ground, then charges straight into Kordak, nearly knocking him off his feet and goring him with its horns. The enlarged Kordak tries to counter by grappling the Gorgon, but it manages to throw him off. Spells start flying at it from the others - most missing, but a few finding their mark. Stor hits it with another water whip, managing to knock it to the ground.

Even angrier now, the creature climbs to its feet and breathes a cloud of greenish gas over Kordak and Stor. They both feel the unnerving sensation of their limbs trying to turn to stone, but they shake off the magic and Kordak successfully grapples it this time. This struggle of straight up strength keeps it occupied while the others continue to attack, until Stor finally brings it down with a well-placed stab of his spear.

Kordak pries up enough of the metal plating to cut off the gorgon's head. Stor collects some of its blood and Balasar - with great difficulty - pulls off a couple of the iron plates that made up the beast's skin. They decide that its flesh probably isn't suitable for eating.

They continue home, arriving in the afternoon on the 1st of Waning Summer - the day of the Summer Festival, celebrating Oa, god of summer, agriculture, loyalty, and devotion. Akta and Stor head to the celebration, finding Natat and giving her the seeds they collected and telling them that the lions have been taken care of. Natat is delighted, and says they've had a wagon built for the harvesting mission, but she's also a little grumpy about needing to work during the festival. Stor then joins the festivities by making fresh fruit juice and using his elemental skills to chill it before handing it out and later joins Wyatt and the other musicians. Akta wanders her way over to the house Gilligan is constructing for Triena to spend some time with baby Chance.

Extang heads to his own house to check on his garden, while Kordak takes his two new heads to the anthill he's been using to clean the skulls. Balasar heads over Feryon's swaying tower to ask the wizard if he can make a bag of holding. Feryon insists that he's far too busy, but, after some thought, admits to having a bag of holding that he doesn't entirely need anymore. He's willing to part with it in exchange for Balasar and his friends bringing him any magical items they find - saying that he's looking for something and he doesn't know exactly what it is, but he'll know when he finds it, and when he does he will accept it as trade.

Balasar immediately thinks of Mirinrie's Anvil, a magical artefact made by a goddess. However, he needs to check with his friends before revealing its presence to Feryon. He goes home, finding only Kordak there. They agree that they need to make sure Gorbosh, whom they gave the anvil to, is okay with the possibility of losing it to the wizard. They go to check, and Gorbosh says he's be sad to lose it, but it's more theirs than his. He also gives Kordak the head of a great axe he'd asked for, saying he hasn't found someone to make the haft yet. Before they leave, Balasar gives Gorbosh the two iron plates he'd prised from the Gorgon.

The two then go to Feryon to tell him about the anvil. The wizard asks them about it, and says it's not what he's looking for - and he advises Kordak to find a cleric to remove the magic the anvil wrought on him, because no one should have their personality controlled by magic. Balasar tries, but he doesn't have any spells powerful enough. However, in spite of not getting the item he wanted, Feryon gives them the bag of holding anyway, trusting them to eventually bring him what he wants.

Balasar heads home, and Kordak - after thinking very hard about it - goes to speak with Orfo to get a haft made for his great axe. Since it isn't an arrow, Orfo isn't particularly interested, but he's willing. He becomes a bit more enthusiastic when Kordak tells him to think of it as a really big arrow.

Eventually everyone goes home to retire for the night. In the morning, Balasar takes Stor and his magic items to Feryon, just in case one of those items is what the wizard is looking for. They aren't, so they return to the others and head out into the jungle.

On their last trip home with Shend, the ranger had noted that the sickly portion of the jungle (where they had encountered strange living plant-creatures) had grown a minuscule amount. The party wishes to investigate this, as it could prove to be a threat to the settlement. They get there late on the second day and find a surprise - the boundary of the sickly jungle has been marked with half-made arrows stuck into the ground. They suspect Shend is responsible for this, but they don't know for certain.

Balasar casts a spell to help conceal their passage, and they all enter very stealthily. Stor sets course for where he guesses the middle is. It takes them an hour to get there, sneaking their way through the withered, sickened plants with occasional glimpses of living plants - some of which are humanoid while others look just like vines swinging through the trees. They look around, but find nothing beyond what they saw elsewhere, though their closer examination reveals green-yellow veins running up the trees from their roots.

The group hurries the rest of the way through, not wanting to spend the night in this dismal place, and make camp on the edge of the savanna. In the morning, they sneak back in, doing a more thorough search of the area. This time they find what looks like it could be the centre of the problem: 3 huge trees with large yellow-green veins that Stor believes are pumping something into the ground. However, the area is swarming with plant-creatures and they decide that this isn't the time to deal with the situation. It is certainly a problem - one that's dangerously close to home - but a slow-growing one that can be dealt with later. They sneak their way out and return home.

They arrive home late in the evening on the 7th of Waning Summer. Everyone heads to their respective homes for the night. In the morning, Stor remembers that they haven't told the council about the book they found in the lion's den and goes to show it to Hargrom. However, the dwarf doesn't read elvish, so Stor makes a translation for him.

Kordak and Balasar go to visit Orfo, collecting the completed haft for Kordak's greataxe and showing him one of the arrows that had been marking the sickly part of the jungle. Orfo is able to confirm that it's Shend's work - saying that the dwarf needs to practice more and get more training. He misses his apprentice.

On the way home, Kordak and Balasar ask around about an alchemist. Kordak is thinking about mixing some kind of poison to deal with the living plants. They do find out about an alchemist, but it's one of the crazy short creatures living on their own little herb farm - the ones who had chased off Gilligan with an axe.

Stor joins the two and they cautiously go to investigate. They politely remain on the edge of the property and call out to the creature they see meticulously working in the garden. When they say they're looking for an alchemist, the creature calls out to Fonofo, the other one, who - believing these people to be interesting in alchemy - begins talking their ears off about chemicals. Kordak offers the correction that they're looking to have a concoction made up, which leads Fonofo to say they need more glass for their equipment, and then somehow circling around to believing that these three are bringing the glass that was requested.

Kordak patiently explains that they want to poison some living plants - at which points the two short creatures panic, believing that if plants are walking around the world must be coming to an end. They flee to their house. Stor and Balasar remain behind while Kordak goes to try to calm the creatures and set the situation straight. Unfortunately he's unable to convince them the he isn't a walking plant that has come to eat them. He eventually gives up and leaves when they charge out of their house swinging an axe that looks too big for them.

He rejoins Stor and Balasar. When Gilligan had first come to them with word of these creatures, they had believed his concerns about them to be exaggerated. Now they aren't so certain, though Kordak seems to still be willing to give them a chance - he thinks they can be reasoned with, as long as they're careful about what they say.


And that's where this game session wraps up. Find out what happens next in Episode 23.

Basic Income

            There’s this concept being experimented with right now called Basic Income. Some countries already have it and some others are testing it, but I don’t think there is nearly enough information about it given out. The essential concept is that the government gives everyone of the age of majority enough money to live off of – and, after that, all you get told are the details about how the system works – not why it is being done.

            Based on that surface information, there are a number of different responses that jump straight into people’s heads. The ones that really get to me are the people who complain about the government giving money to people who aren’t working for it – a response that shows they have no idea either how an economy works, or how people think.

            The latter isn’t really their fault – we’ve been trained to think that work is unpleasant and that, given the opportunity, no one would work. This has fostered the belief that anyone on any kind of government support is simply lazy and feeding off the rest of society, which is completely untrue. Sure, there are some people who abuse the system, but the majority of people getting money from the government A. need it for one reason or another and B. would much rather be working for their money.

            The truth is that we humans need work. It’s not merely a way to make money; it’s a method for passing the time. Without it, we’d go stir-crazy. Sure, the idea of playing video games all day every day may appeal to some people, but after about three months of that our brains long for something different (yes, I’m speaking from experience) – and that’s where work comes in. We need a variety of things to do, and work helps break up the time, making enjoyable activities more enjoyable.

            Apart from that, no one wants to just be handed money. Oh, we think we do, but it’s just as unrewarding as spending the entire day on the social media website of your choice. It feels horrible to be living off the charity of others, so, given the option, most people avoid it. So why does anyone accept these ‘government handouts’ then? Because money is needed to survive – and our strongest instinct is to survive.

            So, how does this Basic Income thing help? First, it makes it for everyone, meaning that the stigma associated with accepting government money are lessened, making it seem like a less horrible option. Next, it makes it easy to get on to – being automatic for everyone. Finally, it encourages everyone to get off of it: it’s only enough money to cover basic expenses, so if people want cars, houses, the latest books or videogames, TV channels, or any of that, they still have to get a job. However, it doesn’t just vanish as soon as someone gets a job, it simply fades out as the person makes more money – but at a rate where the person is still earning on top of their basic living expenses. In essence, you get given, say, $20,000 per year – if you start working, your income goes up by half your earnings until you’re making about $40,000 per year, at which point the Basic Income drops out.

This means that people with disabilities are able to work fewer hours and get a better income, while still having the security that, if worst comes to worst, they won’t end up living on the streets. In fact, it means that no one need ever end up on the streets again! Just like that, a bulk of the homeless problems are solved.

            But wait, there’s more! Think of all the drastic changes a system like this makes to the whole society. Students won’t need as much debt to go through school, people who lose jobs won’t have to panic about finding new jobs, and people can work fewer hours to get the money they need to survive – which will improve mental health across the board.

            Then there’s the work environments – remember that horrible boss you had once? Or that dangerous work environment? The co-workers who made you dread going to work? You couldn’t quit, because you needed the money to survive. But with a Basic Income, you could safely take the risk of quitting and finding a new job, knowing your base expenses can be paid. That may seem a small thing at first, but think – how many bad bosses will there be if their employee’s aren’t trapped working for them? How many unsafe environments if the employees feel safe walking out? The system would actually force work environments to improve. Employers would be forced to earn their employees’ respect and loyalty.

            Then there are all the would-be entrepreneurs out there. Starting a business takes a lot of money and risks. How many more brilliant businesses might start if there is a guaranteed safety net?

            Hang on a moment, though. This is still money being given out by the government. That means it comes from our taxes! Well, yes, but that’s the most brilliant part of it. You see, there are people out there who would have you believe that the best thing for the economy is to give more money to rich people, so they can spend that money on more extravagant things, which generates more jobs and pays more people. Yet, however hard they try to prove trickle-down economy, people are always able to find holes in the arguments and math.

            The truth is that the opposite is true. The economy functions through the movement of money, and the poorer someone is, the more likely they are to spend their money. People with a lot of money have a stockpile of it. If you give $20 to a corporation, they don’t turn around and spend it – they put it in a holding tank, where it may take ages for it to get passed on to someone else. That’s where the economy goes to die. On the other hand, if you give $20 to someone who barely survives from paycheck-to-paycheck, they’ll spend every penny of it and fuel the economy.

            So, yes, the money comes out of taxes, but even though it looks like it’s being given away for free, it’s actually improving the economy. But, in truth, it shouldn’t be thought of as the government giving away the taxes you worked so hard to pay – it should be thought of as a country investing in its people. Once the system is up and running, taxes will be more like paying off the money that was invested in you while you were building your life. And, once you start thinking about it like that, you’ll be happy to pay your taxes, secure in the knowledge that they’ll be going to someone else who is still building their life. Perhaps even your own kids.

            Imagine if a Basic Income could be implemented around the world – converting poverty into unlocking everyone’s full potential.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Lark's Landing, Episode 21

Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.

You can find the previous episode here.


29th - 35th of Waxing Summer, 0AL

It takes five days for the adventurers to reach the edge of the field of blue grass. It's a rougher journey for them because without Shend around it takes them far longer to move through the jungle - not to mention, it's harder for them to find the extra water they need in the sweltering heat of summer. They arrive on the 34th of Waxing Summer and begin talking about their plan for taking down the entire pride of lions. Akta sends Fluffy ahead to scout, as he's the only one who has seen the lions' den in person.

The psudodragon flies off and doesn't return for a couple hours. During this time, the group discusses the various possibilities, such as picking off members of the pride while they're out hunting or charging straight in. They also gather some of the blue grass and seeds.

Fluffy finally returns, telepathically transmitting his findings to Akta, who passes the information to the others. There are seven lions lounging around a pool of water outside a cave. There are also various movements throughout the whole region of blue grass, but fluffy isn't able to tell how many of them are lions.

Determining that the lion den is closer to the white stone building than to where they are, they decide to head there first and attack the lions in tomorrow. The trip takes much of the rest of the day, and they arrive to find the goblins they left behind still there. B'yeta and Ilk welcome them back, declaiming that they have cleaned up the building as requested. The smell alone is enough to tell the group that this isn't the case - though B'yeta and Ilk seems to think the air is just find.

Following the trails of dirt and filth smeared across the floor, the adventurers find that they lead to the closed doors of the secret room they'd found on their last visit. Terrified of what they might find, but unwilling to spend the night with this around, Balasar uses his lightning breath to open the doors. Inside they find all the refuse from the goblins that had inhabited the building two tendays ago, and a stench even worse than before.

Ilk and B'yeta are disappointed that their efforts are unappreciated, but Kordak insists that it's not their fault - the instructions they were left with hadn't been clear enough. They all spend what little remains of the day doing some cleanup work, then they sleep down in the lowest reaches of the building - where the air is significantly cleaner.

In the morning, they head north, planning to circle around the pond - which is to the north of the lions' cave - with the hope that having the water to their backs will keep the lions from surrounding them. However, they soon come across something unexpected - a river. They consider jumping across - with Akta insisting that someone should pole-vault across - but, to Akta's disappointment, they decide that the river most likely leads to the pond, and they can keep the water to their backs merely by following the river to the den. This they do, and in a little over an hour they're peeking out of the blue grass into the trampled land surrounding the pride's home.

As Stor peeks out, he accidentally breaks some grass stems, catching the attention of the six lions lounging around the pool. He charges to the closest one, but keeps a short distance away, using his newly refined skills to lash out at it with a whip of water. Balasar charges out behind and grabs the lion's head, holding his mouth shut in the hopes of keeping him from alerting the others - unfortunately, they've already been seen. Extang attempts to cast a sleep spell on the lion that appears to be the leader of the pride and the three lionesses surrounding him - to no effect.

The lion held by Balasar swipes back at him, while the other five climb to their feet and begin charging in - joined by a sixth from around the side of the hill - except for the male, who roars loudly. Koardak rushes in to help Balasar finish off the first lion, positioning himself to be the easiest target for the oncoming rush of felines. Akta keeps back as far as she can, launching her spells from afar, while Stor activates his boots of waterwalking and runs out onto the pond, hoping to lure some lions into more difficult fighting conditions. The leader of the pride takes the bait, but retreats after his first attacks, deciding against fighting in the water. Stor spends the rest of the battle using hit-and-run tactics.

The lions swarm towards the group, mostly targeting Kordak and Balasar. As the adventurers finish off their second lion and are just thinking this task might not be so hard, more lions start running out of the cave to join the fray. As the area gets more crowded, some of the lions circle around to get at Extang and Akta - although Akta uses the swimming prowess of Shend's old armour to cross the river and keep out of the fight, leaving Extang as the only available target.

The battle rages on, with spells, weapons, claws, and teeth flying. A total of twelve lions join the fray. As their numbers dwindle, Balasar falls unconscious from his wounds. Akta finishes off the lion that took him down, allowing Extang to rush over and, pulling out his herbalism kit, stabilises the dragonborn cleric to keep him from dying.

At long last, the battle winds to a close. Stor revives Balasar with a healing potion, and the group goes to explore the cave, with Balasar lighting the way for those who can't see in the dark (himself and Extang) with a light spell cast upon his hammer - though, feeling weak and untrusting, he doesn't go far from the cave's entrance. As soon as they walk in, they see the walls covered with crude paintings and drawings - examining them reveals that they seem to be images of various people and monsters, possibly fighting, and possibly some buildings as well.

There are some other chambers off of the cave, but there's one that only Stor and Akta notice - it has a small crevice leading to it. Akta isn't very interested in it, because she's too interested in finding baby lions, but Stor goes straight to it. Being the smallest member of the group, he fits trough the space easily - finding another cave, but this one has marks scratched into all the walls instead of painting. It also has a few ledges cut into the walls - and on one of them is a book. However, there's a swarm of rats occupying the room.

Stor calls out, asking for one of the dragonborn to come take care of the rats with their breath. Extang squeezes through the narrow crevice and breathes his poison breath over the rats - it kills some of them, but the others, enraged, leap on the closest target - Stor. It takes a couple uncomfortable moments, but the two are able to finish off the rats and Stor is able to collect the book.

It's a very well made book, and he opens it up to find it has a large number of pages missing from the front. However, there is writing inside - in elvish, a language he knows. Extang and Stor move back out to the others, and the goblin reads the book aloud to the others, translating it to common as he goes:

1203 DE, Rhovmoon, Elinday the 7th

The words here enclosed are the last will and testament of Baron Tressamont Bal Mordrik, being of sound and stable mind. In these tumultuous times, it has occurred to me that I must needs consider the implications of my own mortality. The monstrous hoard that overran Mordrikton seems to have come out of nowhere, with dragons, orcs, goblins, giants, and other unidentifiable sorts, all cooperating! I have never seen nor heard the like. If such a calamity might befall us this suddenly, there is no telling what could occur.

I am certain the Empire will clean up this malodorous mess presently, but in the mean time, it is my duty – being without a blood heir – to ensure my line of succession, that my people need not go without leadership for long should the worst happen. It is my wish that my title and lands remain in elven hands, as there are so few of us who remain recognized for our ancestry under the current regime. That said, it is my express wish that my inheritance not, under any circumstances, pass to my next-of-kin, my good-for-nothing nephew, Merricanad. Besides being an ignorant brute who looks like the south end of a north bound horse, his intellect severely lacks that which is required to function in civilized day-to-day life, let alone in a position of leadership.

Rather, it is my intention to name as legitimate heir my stalwart cousin, Klarriana, who has proven her worth on innumerable occasions. Her residence, last I was aware, is in Khernett. She is to receive all my titles, lands, and possessions, with my wish that she rule long and well.

Such is my will and, should I perish, let it be done. Mirinrie safeguard me.

1203 DE, Rhovmoon, Elinday the 15th

I cannot believe we are still stranded in this cave. When the attack came, I and those few who could attend me fled south in the hopes of reaching Khernett, past the mountains. Alas, we didn't even make it to the mountains themselves before we were were forced to turn west by yet more of those monsters. They ooze from every crack and crevice of this land! Had we not found this cave, and had the dwarf accompanying us not fashioned a clever door that appears to be a boulder from the outside, we may not have survived even this long. Without food, we may not endure much longer.

The peasants believe this is the end of the world. They are out there now, smearing the walls of our cave with painted images as if they were children. They claim that any who come later must know our history – and that we must tell it in pictures, as they may not understand our language. I say that language is a gift from the gods, and any who forsake the traditions of learning proper communication will be too barbaric to be worth telling.

Speaking of barbarians, that mage, Kluslo, was furious when he learned I had appropriated his spellbook. I pointed out that I had thoughtfully torn out the pages with his inane scribblings, leaving them for him, and that the succession of my title remains of utmost importance. He stormed off, blustering about the book already being ruined anyway. Humans. They never seem to grasp priorities.

The monsters still swarm outside. We can hardly peer from our refuge without the risk of being seen. I worry that our food will not last until the imperial army arrives to clear up this mess.

Mirinrie preserve us.

1203 DE, Kheramoon, Saliksday the 37th

Where are they? It has been months with no sign of the Empire. What are they thinking? They can't possibly allow the threat of this monstrous hoard to exist in the realm. Mordrikton needs them! I need them. My people are dying, even those few who made it as far as this cave. Every time one of our number departs in search of food, those who stay behind never know if they will return. Our numbers are dwindling. Mirinrie, how do you allow this happen to your people?

1204 DE, Frestnmoon, Aliksday the 13th

Today I found Kluslo's body. I was not even certain it was him until I found one of his crumpled pages of spells beside him. What had not been eaten of him was bloated and sickening. Though a hard-headed human, he was the last of my companions. I am now alone. This book tells me that it has been more than a year since the attack, with still no sign of the Empire. I have long since stopped counting days in favor of months. I am beginning to lose hope. Mirninrie, where are you?

1734 DE (or so I believe), Kheramoon, Aliksday the 5th

It has been so long. Writing is hard now, yet I must. I believe the Empire is gone. They must be, for they have not come in all these years. I have learned to be careful to survive. There are still monsters everywhere, but not so dense as when it all started – there was a time when they seemed to have turned on each other, killing each other off. Now something has changed. New hoards of monsters have come, driving off the old. These ones march from the west and many are fish-people. I saw what could only be a mythical dragon-turtle accompanying them, and something enormous with tentacles. They marched right by my door, pausing only to swim in my pond – it looked like they were headed for Mordrikton. It has been such an age. I long to see my home again, so I shall follow in their wake. I am old now, and skilled at remaining unseen, yet I have an unsettling dread to wander so far from the safety of my cave. Should I fail to return, may whosoever finds this book condemn the empire and the gods who so abandoned us.

While he's reading, Akta gets bored and continues her search for baby lions - but, to her great disappointment, she doesn't find any. At the end of the books's text, everyone else starts picking through the cave - Balasar looking for a skeleton, while Stor is hoping to find the missing pages from the spellbook. All they manage to find are the remnant bones from lion meals and the boulder that was once used to block the cave's entrance - though it no longer fits in the opening.

Then they hear a roar from outside. Stor sneakily peaks out of the cave and sees that four more lions have returned from hunting and are surveying the carnage of the battle. Kordak presents a plan to block the cave's entrance to limit the lions' ability to work together, but Extang has another plan. Wanting to scare off these remaining lions, he runs right up to them, roaring. He manages to unnerve them, but they don't flee as he had hoped. However, with his friends' help, these lions are soon put to rest alongside the rest of their pride.


And that's where this game session comes to an end. What will our bold heroes do next? Find out in Episode 22.

Foreshadowing

            My wife once told me that, when she was young, it used to amaze her how writers could put all that foreshadowing in their books and have all the loose threads come together at the end. It blew her mind – not to mention, disappointed her – when she got older and realized that writers could go back and add foreshadowing earlier in the book after writing the end.

            I think that foreshadowing is one of the most complicated aspects of writing, yet is one of the most important ones. How would you feel about reading a book where the masked villain is revealed at the end and... it’s someone you never even heard of before? What if you were reading along and got to the end of a book, only to discover that there was a whole other plot going on in the background that had nothing to do with the rest of the book, and that was never even hinted at? You’d probably be pretty disappointed. Surprised – but disappointed.

            I think the best-known use of foreshadowing is in the Harry Potter series. You know what I’m talking about. Or, if you don’t, go read the series and find out. If you read the series a second time (or have a very good memory), you’ll start seeing things from all the way back in book one that hint at the great reveal – and it’s truly amazing how much there is that connects.

            But, wait... there are 7 Harry Potter books (well, in the main series, at any rate) and the big reveal is in the last one – J.K. Rowling certainly didn’t have all the books completely written when the first was published. She didn’t have the option of going back to add those bits in. So, how did she do it?

            Well, it’s because there is more than one way to foreshadow. In this case, it was excellent planning. This big reveal was practically the whole point of the entire series – it was something that was planned from the beginning and, as such, it was easy for Rowling to put in. In this case, the hard part was keeping it subtle enough to not alert the readers.

            Of course, not all foreshadowing can be planned in advance. Sure, writers generally know how their books will end, but they don’t know all the separate elements – those are discovered along the way. Then, if needed, the writer can always go back and add them later, after completing the manuscript (but before publishing it).

            Yet, there is still another way to foreshadow, something that is almost a combination of the previous two. Writers can often foreshadow as they go. How? There are two ways. The first is simply having an idea of what’s going to happen in the story’s future, and spotting opportunities to drop little hints (usually accompanied by snickering behind a hand and statements like, “They’ll never catch this!”). The other is to link ideas backwards as you go along. A book being written is almost a living thing – it expands and grows as the author writes it, sometimes turning into something entirely different than was initially intended. A writer can keep in mind things they wrote previously in the book and be just as amazed as the reader when it turns out to be a hint later in the book. This is done much like guessing at what will happen next when you’re reading – only, as the writer, you get to decide what actually does happen. The writer writes something, uses it to make a prediction of what it could mean for the future, then makes it happen.

            So, Young Colleen wasn’t entirely wrong – sometimes writers do put the foreshadowing in as they go, and it can be very impressive. But, as with all skills, it’s important to remember that there’s more than one way of doing everything, and none of them is better than the other. The important part isn’t how you create the foreshadowing – what matters is having enough foreshadowing that when the reveal comes, the reader can put together all the pieces and feel like the story is plausible.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Lark's Landing, Episode 20

Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.

You can find the previous episode here.


15th - 29th of Waxing Summer, 0AL

As Kordak and Balasar talk about the feeling generated by the magical anvil they found in the secret room they found, Stor is taking a closer look at it and the intricate images of smithing engraved on it. Suddenly, he speaks up, saying that it looks remarkably like a legendary artefact he's heard of before. He shares the he believes this is the actual anvil of Mirinrie, goddess of crafting and tradition, that was stolen from her in ages past by Rotar, god of adventure, wealth, and daring, and given to mortals in ages past. It, along with Mirinrie's hammer, were used in ancient times to make some of the most powerful artefacts the world has ever known.

The group is intrigued by this, and - after everyone touches it to see what it makes them feel - begin discussing what to do with it. Some believe it should be left here, sealed behind the door that they believe can only be opened by the breath of a dragonborn, others want to take it back to the settlement. After all, Gorbosh is building a forge and will need an anvil. In the end, they decide to take it home.

Akta sneaks off for a moment to use her sending stone to send a message to the Negotiator, informing her that she has another of the items on the list. Then she helps the others gather what little metal weapons and armour they can find on the goblins, then pile and burn as many corpses as they can before settling down for the night. Stor discovers that the longsword they found in the room with the anvil is particularly good at killing fiends, and Balasar finds the the warhammer found there is very effective against goblins - something that would have been very useful in their earlier fight. Early in the night, while Kordak was taking the first watch, he hears the familiar sound of harpies outside - taking advantage of the few corpses that remain. Luckily they don't seem interested in the building.

In the morning, they head home, with Balasar and Kordak carrying the anvil. The goblins Ilk and B'yeta refuse to join them - too afraid to go so close to the coast and the Soggy Alliance - so they are told to stay and clean up the mess the goblins made in the building.

As the adventurers leave the field of blue grass, they notice a cloud of dust to the north. As they're trying to determine what it is, it becomes suddenly apparent as a stampede of all sorts of animals - including gazelles, triceratops, rhinos, and giraffes - comes over a hill, charging straight at them. They run out of the way, but Kordak and Balasar, burdened by the weight of the anvil, lag behind. Realizing their predicament, the two decide they aren't going down without a fight and heave the anvil into the charging masses - crushing a gazelle's head. The herd tramples the two, carrying them along with it for a ways before they roll out from under the feet - battered and bruised, but miraculously alive. They all watch as a t-rex follows behind the herd, sparing barely a thought for them (and a little drool for Kordak) as it pursues its larger prey.

Amazed, they pick themselves up, grab the anvil and dead gazelle, and continue on - with Shend lamenting that they can't hunt down the monstrous lizard until they drop off the anvil. That night, while Stor is standing watch, a huge snake somehow manages to sneak up on him and... go flying past as it entirely fails to wrap around him. Stor rouses his friends and, with their help, they finish off the remarkably inept snake, then they head back to sleep - after taking some swathes of its skin.

They continue home, but after the second day they begin to notice that Kordak and Balasar are acting differently than usual. Kordak isn't as gruff and Balasar seems more reserved. The others comment on this, but they don't thing anything is wrong. Guessing that the anvil may be involved, they convince Balasar to cast a spell to identify its properties. He discovers that the anvil lends magical assistance to those making items with it, and almost misses what he's looking for - that it tries to change the disposition of people who spend a lot of time with it to closer match the ideals of Mirinrie - and that someone who spends enough time with the anvil might find that the change has become permanent.

Upon hearing this, the others volunteer to take shifts carrying the anvil. Balasar and Kordak don't really see the differences in themselves, but Balasar - feeling uncomfortable that something might be magically changing his personality - eventually gives in, allowing Stor to take his place. Kordak, however, insists that he's the strongest in the group, so it doesn't make sense for anyone else to carry it. The others are concerned, but there's no convincing him.

While they camp one day out from home, when Akta is on watch, she gets a visit from the fox-like Negotiator. The creature accepts the magical morningstar the group had claimed from Grubfrub, and Akta feels a tingling sensation. For the next ten days she will be able to fall from great heights, drifting down as light as a feather.

The next day, they arrive home around noon. They take the anvil straight to Gorbosh and his completed recently-completed forge. The half-orc is delighted by it - even more so when he hears it is the anvil of Mirnirie herself. Stor - who's own disposition has been becoming less chaotic - warns him that the anvil, while powerful, also tries to make people more amenable to Mirinrie's ideals. This doesn't bother Gorbosh, because he is already devoted to the goddess.

There is some concern about having such a valuable artefact around and out in the open. The group believes that some people might choose to come to worship it, or that others might wish to steal it, if its existence is known. Kordak decides that a good, sturdy building is required for the forge, and goes off to arrange it. He finds the people working on building the tavern - finding that the crew has more than doubled - and asks them if they will help, just out of the goodness of their hearts. They look at him like he's crazy, so he offers to pay them with the rum he has a secret cache of. This generates enough interest to get him part of the crew, and they head off to get to work.

Wanting to test her new ability, Akta finds a tall tree and begins climbing it. Shend accompanies her fore the amusement of it. She's not the best climber, but she doesn't get hurt any time she falls because she just drifts down. At last, she gets to the top - and jumps off, gently floating down to the ground. She has so much fun, she climbs the tree again. This goes on for some time, until a soaking wet, puffy-eyed Deltria, on her way back from the mine, spots them and comes over. Shend asks what's happened and Deltria explains that they broke into some kind of underground river in the mine that started flooding the place - and that they'd just finished sealing the hole. While she's talking, Akta uses her magic to dry off her clothes, for which the dwarf is quite grateful.

Deltria then asks to speak with Shend, and the two head for the mine - Akta tries to follow, but Deltria says she wants to speak with Shend alone, so Akta kindly returns to climbing and jumping from her tree. As they walk, Deltria expresses her frustration that the mine hasn't yielded any metal yet, and her worry that the other miners will lose faith in her if she doesn't find anything soon. She then admits the Shend that she grew up in a city and has never even been in a mine before. Shend reassures her that he couldn't tell, and agrees to have a look at the mine with her.

Together, they go spiralling down into the mine, where Shend examines the rock formations. He notices how the rock has been layered and finds a point that he believes may lead to some ore. He points it out to Deltria, then picks up a pickaxe and begins working at it with her. After a bit of work, they find they've found a vein of iron ore that the initial mine shaft had missed by mere inches. Deltria is vastly relieved that this mine hasn't been a waste of time and Shend says he won't tell anyone he helped her and that her secret that she's never been in a mine before is safe with him.

With Kordak insisting on building the blacksmith building, the group is stuck in town for the ten days it will take. On the first day, Stor and Shend take their snake skins to the tanner, and are surprised when he asks for money. He explains that since someone sold some alcohol at the tavern, requesting money for it, a number of people have been requiring money for their services in anticipation of more alcohol. Apparently there are some nobles who brought their fortunes with them that are taking advantage of this to get finer homes built - and there's also a rumour that some of the people trained by the militia are refusing to take shifts unless they get paid. The two willing pay, finding it interesting that Kordak seems to have accidentally jump-started the economy.

Stor then drops off the sheaf of blue grass he'd harvested with Natat, who is very grateful and mentions that they've managed to get a small early harvest of some potatoes. She asks about how much of the blue grass there is, and talks about sending a caravan out to harvest it - saying it would really help with the food shortage. Stor mentions that it might be a bad idea, because of a pride of lions that lives in the field, but seeing the hope fade from Natat's face he says that he and the rest of his group might be able to take care of it.

Stor spends the rest of the ten days learning to control his raw, internal magical power, focusing it into a more elemental form. Shend continues to help Deltria out with the mine, bringing in the first ore the mine has seen yet, and running some other errands around the settlement. Akta, of course, makes the most of her featherfalling charm that will wear off by the end of this time, climbing and jumping from everything she can. Balasar spends a lot of time contemplating the changes the anvil tried to force upon him and maintaining his shrine. Extang isn't even seen by the rest of the group, as he's returned to his own small home and to learning carpentry while helping build the tavern.

On the night of the second day into this time, there is an unexpected visitor during the full moon. Gilligan's grey, cat-eyed parrot familiar, Pablo, comes into the house and gives a roll of paper to Akta's psudodragon familiar, Fluffy, then leaves. Fluffy takes the paper to Akta, who finds it's addressed to her, asking her to come outside. Akta goes out and finds Gilligan there. He awkwardly says hi, and she demands to know if he's here to apologise. He is, and he does, if a bit gracelessly, as well as forgiving her for the pranks she was pulling on him. He then says he wants to come in to speak with the others.

After a bit of catching up, Gilligan launches tells them that he thinks he won't be rejoining them any time soon because of his chosen duty of protecting Triena and Chance. And, because of that, he wants to tell them the rest of his story. He does so, reminding them of the story he told them of his best friend, Kingsley, and expounding to say that his friend - being a rare cross between a werewolf and a vampire - had been caught up in the midst of some vampire-werewolf power struggle, and during that had been mind-controlled by a powerful vampire named Luthrum. Kingsley had broken free and come to Gilligan, asking him to kill him so he couldn't do any more harm. Gilligan had complied. He then pulls out his friend's skull, which, in the moonlight, turns into a more bestial form. He then pulls out his final half-bottle of wine and shares it around with his friends, answering their questions to inform them that Kingsley is somehow, in some way, still alive, and that he's worried Luthrum might have somehow come across the ocean, trying to get the skull so he can resurrect Kingsley. After talking a bit more, he says his farewells and heads off.

On the morning of the 29th of Waxing Summer, the adventurers wake up to find Shend gone. In his place is the magical armour he took from the pirate captain of the Noble's Lark and a note. The note reads that he has decided to go off alone. He will miss them, bur he feels this is something he needs to do - he has to prove his power to himself and his clan, and he can't do that while working with them.

Akta immediately rushes off to the beach, while Balasar now he wants to go out and kill things. Stor suggests taking care of the lions so the grass can be harvested. They need Akta if they're going to do that, so they head down to the beach, where they find the miserable tiefling. She tells them that there's no point in anything, because everyone leaves eventually. They try to reassure her, and also to explain that it's part of life. She pulls out a picture of her family - her, her mother, and her father - wearing a Somvidian officer's uniform that is disturbingly familiar to Stor.

(Art by Emily Walton, who plays Akta)

The others tell her that they'll do everything they can to help her get her family back - though she corrects them, saying she only cares about getting her mother back - bus she doesn't see it as possible, with her mother being so far away. Then, she considers that the Negotiator had been able to check up on her mother, and tells the others about her - saying she's not her patron, but her patron's assistant. With that idea in mind, she uses her sending stone to send a message to the Negotiator, saying she would like another favour, and that her friends know about her so she doesn't have to appear when only Akta is around.

With her somewhat cheered up, they decide to ask Extang to come out with them again, remembering how helpful he'd been in the battle with Grubfrub. The golden dragonborn hesitantly agrees, after doing a reading for himself with his cards - a reading that catches the interest of Stor and Balasar who see it as a potential window to their pasts. However, they're content to wait until later for that - because first they're going on a lion hunt.


And that's where this game session comes to an end. Find out what happens next week in Episode 21.